"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

“ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the L ORD . And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the L ORD . And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the L ORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” - G ENESIS 4:1-5 [KJV] We live in a most religious world. In every county, country and culture; among all people, without exception there is some form of religion. Did you know that all religions can be summed into two groups? The way of Cain or the way of Abel. Cain represents the way that seems right unto men [PROVERBS 14:12 ] , the way of the flesh, works, self-righteousness, self-glory, do t...

"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts." -P ROVERBS 31:6 [KJV] The wise mother of king Lemuel gave her son gracious directions when she spake these words. It is when we begin to feel the misery into which we have been cast by sin, and thus become ready to perish, and of heavy hearts, that the pure wine of gospel grace is suitable to our lost condition . As the holiness and justice of God are discovered to the conscience, and we are made to see and feel the depths of the Adam fall, we look out of ourselves for a salvation which we could not find in our fallen nature or in our deeply corrupt and unbelieving heart. When, then, we obtain by living faith a view of the Son of God as a Mediator between God and men, when we see by the eye of faith the blood of the cross, and the full and complete atonement which He, as the Lamb of God, made for sin, then we heartily embrace Him as "of God made unto us wi...

Paul asked the Lord that his thorn in the flesh be removed. We have no knowledge of what that thorn was, but such was the painfulness and seriousness of it that Paul requested three times to be freed from it. The Lord’s answer was, “ My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” [II CORINTHIANS 12:9 ] . When the Lord’s children are afflicted with sickness or disease, we ask the Lord to remove the thorn, if it be His will. After all, is He not the Great Physician? Many times, however, it is not His will to heal us. The word given to Paul, however, remains valid to all who love Christ: “ My grace is sufficient for thee.” We have our Redeemer’s promise, He will give sufficient grace (saving and supporting grace) to endure whatever trial He, in His infinite wisdom, sends our way. “Lord, make this promise be a soft pillow for all Your suffering children.” The Sender of the trial will give grace and will uphold us by His strength in our tim...